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Allen Media laying off local TV weather forecasters

The broadcaster will produce regional weather reports from Atlanta, spearheaded by The Weather Channel.

The broadcaster will produce regional weather reports from Atlanta, spearheaded by The Weather Channel.

The logo of the Weather Channel. (Image courtesy Allen Media Group, Graphic by The Desk)

Allen Media Group is laying off nearly all of its local television meteorologists and will produce regionalized weather reports for its local TV stations from Atlanta, The Desk has learned.

The process began several weeks ago when local TV weather forecasters in some small markets received notices that their positions were being eliminated, according to eight sources who agreed to speak with this publication on background.



A few weather forecasters were offered opportunities to relocate to Atlanta, where Allen Media operates The Weather Channel, which will produce regionalized weather reports for all of its local TV stations, the sources said. Allen Media owns or operates around three dozen local TV outlets, including stations in Honolulu, Hawaii; Chico, California; Madison, Wisconsin; Montgomery, Alabama; Tucson, Arizona and Lafayette, Louisiana.

A spokesperson for Allen Media did not return an email from The Desk seeking additional information and comment on the move. But on Saturday, the company issued a press release affirming it was centralizing its weather operations in Atlanta, and saying it would provide “the most-accurate, timely and engaging forecasts for communities across the country” by utilizing the forecasting and storytelling capabilities of The Weather Channel.



“We are proud to announce that Allen Media Group is leveraging the full resources and expertise of The Weather Channel to make our local weather news the very best,” said Tom O’Brien, the President of The Weather Channel and Weather Group. “We are 100 percent committed to delivering next-level weather news to our local television stations 24-7.”

Rumors that Allen Media would cut its local TV meteorologist force began bubbling up on social media two weeks ago, when some of the company’s editorial employees began communicating their plans.



“It’s spreading fast, but if you haven’t heard, Allen Media is laying off all local meteorologists company-wide,” Christina Burkhart, a meteorologist at Flint-area TV station WJRT (Channel 12, ABC), wrote on Friday. Burkhart put the number of affected employees at “nearly 100” and said the layoffs would impact slightly more than 20 TV stations.

A handful of TV meteorologists will remain at some Allen Media stations in larger markets, but their positions are expected to be eliminated in the near future, two sources said. The Weather Channel is currently hiring for on-air and behind-the-scenes workers specific to its regional forecasting hub, which will be led by Carl Parker, a climate scientist who has spent two decades at The Weather Channel.

The centralization of its weather forecasting comes amid broader cuts at Allen Media, the company founded by comedian and interviewer Byron Allen. In recent months, Allen Media has shut down local newsrooms in smaller markets and concentrated editorial operations through regional “hubs,” and eliminated some low-rated morning and weekend newscasts at some of its TV stations.

The Weather Channel itself was faced with layoffs last year, when the company decided to shut down The Weather Channel en Español, a free streaming channel that offered forecasts in Spanish. Allen Media also pulled the plug on The Grio TV and This TV, two multicast networks that were distributed by broadcast TV stations. The closures of This TV and The Grio TV have not been previously reported.

At the same time, Allen has made headlines by making unsolicited offers to acquire different major media assets over the past few years, including bids for BET Media, Paramount Global’s linear television networks, local broadcaster TEGNA and the ABC broadcast network. Industry analysts have raised doubts over Allen’s ability to finance any large-scale acquisition or merger, though company executives have characterized his prior bids as authentic and serious.

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About the Author:

Matthew Keys

Matthew Keys is a nationally-recognized, award-winning journalist who has covered the business of media, technology, radio and television for more than 11 years. He is the publisher of The Desk and contributes to Know Techie, Digital Content Next and StreamTV Insider. He previously worked for Thomson Reuters, the Walt Disney Company, McNaughton Newspapers and Tribune Broadcasting. Connect with Matthew on LinkedIn by clicking or tapping here.
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